Price indicator



H. R. GOTTFRIED v RRIGE INDICATOR' Filed April A27. 1923 Patented Dec. 2, 1924.

UN'ILE STATES ears rare a.

PRICE INDICATOR.

Apptlieaton led April 27, 1923. Serial No. 635,145.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT R. GOTT- ri-zinn, a. citizen of the `United Sta-tes, residing at Erie, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Price Indicators, of which the following is a specification. l

My present invention is a device for use by store keepers by whichthe prices of articles displayed for sale may be accurately announced, and the obj ect of the invention is to provide a price indicator which may be readily placed in position upon a shelf and held in engagement therewith and which may be easily adjusted to indicate the correct price of the articles in connection with which it is displayed. The invention seeks to provide a novel construction whereby any number of the indicators may be placed side by side so that numerals displayed by them will indicate prices extending into any required denomination. The invention seeks particularly to provide a devicewhich will be compact, inexpensive and which will not detract from the appearance of store furniture and fittings. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying` drawing and will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a store shelf showing my improved price indicator applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the device in position upon a shelf;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line s-s of Fig. e;

Fig. i is an enlarged detail section `on the line fl--l of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the inner` or rear end of the casing;

Fig. G is a longitudinal detail section showing a slight modification;

Fig. 7 is a detail section on the line 7-,7 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a detail section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 5.

The store shelf 1 may be of any preferred dimensions, and the merchandise, indicated at 2, is arranged upon the shelf in the usual or any desired manner. In the accompanying drawing, I have shown the merchandise arranged in packages and leaving a marginal portion of the front edge of the shelf with which the casing` of the price indicator may be engaged, but it will be readily understood that the packages may be arranged close to or flush with the edge of the shelf and in `such `event some of the packages will cover the upper portion of the casing.

The casing 'of the price indicator comprises a front vertical portion 3 having a rear wall 4f which is approximately of the same height as the thickness of the shelf, and extending rearwardly `from the said rear Wallis a top pla-te 5 which isadapted to extend over and rest upon the top surface of the shelf. This plate may readily be resilient so that it will exertstrong friction upon the shelf and thereby aid in retaining the indicator in place. From the lower end of the front portion 3 ofthe casing, a horizontal portion 6 extends rearwardly, and this portion 6 is adapted to engage against the under surface of the shelf, as will be readily understood. Should the thickness of the shelf be not exactly vequa-l to the height of the wall t of the casing, the upper extension 5 may be bent upwardly or downwardly, as the case may be,.to effect proper engagement with the shelf and exert sufficient pressure thereon to firmly hold the device in position. Thefront wall of the casing has a display opening 7 formed therein, and this display opening may be convenently formed by striking from the material ofthe wall a tongue 8 which is bent to lie parallel with thefront wall and thereby forma keeper and-guide for the vertical run of the display belt 9. -A small pane 1() of glass or other transparent material may be fitted against the front wall of the casing between the same and the display belt so that, while numerals upon the belt may be easily read, the belt will be protected against puncture or other injury from. accidental lblows and will also be held smooth so that .it will presenta neat appearance and the numeral displayed may be read'with certainty, it being noted particularly upon reference to Figs. i and 7 that the pane 10 and the tongue 8 form parallel guides which lie close against the belt and thereby maintain the display portion thereof taut and. smooth. The belt'9 is trained around an idle roller 11 journaled in the sides of the casing at the upper front corner thereof, a second idle roller 12 journaled in the sides of the casing at the extreme rear end of the lower portion 6 thereof, and a guiding and adjusting roller 18 journaled in the side walls of the casing at the lower front corner thereof.

The belt is thus made to extend across the front of the casing vertically, and longitudinally in horizontal planes within the lower extension 6 of the casing and between the idle roller 11 and the lower horizontal extension of the casing, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. A turn or bend is, of course, formed in the belt at the inner front corner of the casing, as shown at 14, and this corner of the casing is made convex so that it will serve as a guide for the belt to prevent wear thereon. The roller 13 has a` friction surface so that it will firmly engage and drive the belt, and is equipped at one end with a knurled or milled disk or nut 15 constituting a handle or tlnunb piece projecting through an opening provided therefor in the front wall of the casing so that the belt may be readily shifted to bring any desired numeral thereon into view through the display opening It will be understood that the belt has painted, printed, or otherwise displayed upon its outer surface the numerals running from O to 9 and by rotating the thumb wheel 15, motion will be in'iparted to the belt so `that any desired numeral may be brought into display position. If the price to be shown may be indicated by a single numeral, only one casing and belt will be needed, but if the price runs into tens, two indicators will, of co-urse, be required and they are arranged side by side in juxtaposition, as shown in Fig. 1. Obviously, any required number of the indicators may be provided so that the pri-ce of any article may be legibly displayed.

The bearings for the rollers 11 and 13 are formed by punching or pressing` inwardly through the sideI walls of the` casing bosses 16, and the rollers are provided with reduced terminals, indicated at 17, adapted to tit within the said bosses, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Bearings for the rollers are thus produced in a very simple and cheap manner and, as a result of 'the con struction, the rollers are held against endwise movement and tuf'o or more indicators may be placed in contact so that the numerals displayed by them may be brought close together as is obviously desirable. In the drawing, I have shown the thumb pieces 15 as located at the right side of both indicators, but it will be understood that they may be located at the left side of some of the indicators, and this change in location will permit mey to shift the belts slightly so that, when two indicators are placed side by side, the numerals displayed will be brought ycloser together.

It is desirable to provide means whereby the tension of the belt may be adjusted to compensate for stretching of the belt in use, and to that end I have provided a volte 18 having its side members slidably fitted through slots 10 in the extreme rear wall 2O of the casing and the axle 21 of the rear roller 12 is journaled in the said side members. The ends of the axle project laterally beyond the side members of the yoke and play in longitudinal slots Q2 in the side walls of the extension G of the casing. A set screw 23 is threaded through the end member of the yoke and bears against the end wall of the casing so that, by properly turning the screw, the yoke may be adjusted inwardly or outwardly relative to the casing and the display belt 9 placed under the proper tension.

Instead of the guide rollers the belt may be trained around stationary guides, and in Fig. 6, I have shown such construction. The casing 24. may be of the same construction as the casing previously described, but instead of the longitudinal slots 2Q, and instead of providing the bosses 16, I secure to and between the side walls of the casing guide plates 25 which are arcuate in cross section so that, if the belt Q6 be trained around the plates, as shown in. Fig. G, they will be turned in a rolled form and will not be folded or creased. The surfaces of these. guide plates are perfectly smooth so that the belt may pass over the same freely when adjustment thereof is needed.

and this construction may be preferred as it is somewhat less costly than the vfirst described construction. These guides may be formed intergral with or otherwise united with one side wall of the casing and may be spring-tempered so as to exert tension on the belt and thereby maintain it inl the desired taut condition.

My improved price indicator is obviously very simple in the construction and arrangement of its parts and may, therefore, be produced at a very low cost. It may be readily engaged upon the edge of a shelf and, when so engaged, will be firmly held without being permanently secured thereto. The display belt may be easily adjusted to `bring any desired numeral into display position, and the device will present a very sightly appearance without taking up any appreciable space upon the shelf or in the storeroom.

I-Iaving thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A price indicator comprising a casing having a member adapted to extend under and bear against the bottom of a shelf, a holding plate projecting from the front portion of thefcasing to frictionally engage the top of the shelf, the casing being provided with a display opening in its front wall, and a display belt extending across the display opening and extending within the lower extension of the casing.

2. A price indicator comprising la casing having a front vertical portion to tit pai against the front edge of a shelf and a lower horizontal portion adapted to extend under the shelf, there being a display opening` in the front wall of the casing, a belt passing laoross the display opening and housed within the vertical and horizontal portions of the easing, means for adjusting the belt across the display opening, and means for maintaining, the tension of the belt.

3. A price indicator comprising a. oasing constructed to engage the edge of a shelf 'and having a display opening in its front Wall, a tongue struck from the front wall of the easing to form the display opening therein and constitute a guide at the rear of said display opening, and a display belt disposed within the casing and eX- tending across the display opening between the same and the said guide.

In testimony whereof I aliiX my signature. l

HERBERT R. GOTTFRIED. [n s] 

